1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printing device that prints on a print medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a printing device has been proposed that ejects ink to print and provides a user with information on the amount of ink remaining (For instance, refer to JP-A-2002-283670 (FIG. 15)). The device described in this publication manages, as usage information, the amount of ink consumed during previous instances of printing, and on the basis of the usage information calculated displays on a display unit the number of sheets, together with the amount of ink remaining.
A printing device has also been proposed that incorporates a function of printing on a print sheet by ejecting from nozzles of a print head ink contained in a cartridge and a function of cleaning the nozzles by absorbing from the nozzles ink contained in the cartridge. This device also manages the amount of ink remaining in the cartridge and when the amount of ink remaining reaches a certain value reduces to a half of a normal value the amount of ink to be used for cleaning (for instance, refer to JP-A-2005-59304 (FIG. 9)). This printing device makes it possible to reduce the amount of ink used for cleaning, thereby increasing the number of sheets that can still be printed.
In addition, a device has also been proposed that performs flushing while a printing operation is being performed. In this operation the flushing ejects ink onto an area in which printing is not taking place, so as to clear thickening of ink caused by evaporation from nozzles of volatile liquid contained in the ink (For instance, refer to JP-A-10-95132).